Spiritual Habits for a New Day, A New Year

The old “me” wakes up anew every morning. She is always there, never on vacation and never out sick. She is full of insecurities, doubt, self-reliance, pride, anger, laziness, impure desires, selfishness. She would make me give up completely…if my hope was in her, but it isn’t.

My hope is in Christ, and in Christ, there is a new me. The old things are gone and I am a new creation and every morning when the old wakes up, I must lay it aside because I have learned from Christ that I can.

It starts in the mind. This is good, for that means it is not based on how I feel. It also means that it is a conscious choice I can either do or fail to do, and as I choose to do it, God can divinely help me in my weakness and can accomplish more than I ask or think (Eph 3:20-21)

{I’ve spent many years of my Christian life trying to clean up “me” and keep “me” trained and acting right… Until life squeezed more and more and I saw that I just could not keep “me” under control and I had to give up on me entirely and that was so scary, but that is when I discovered the truth, that there is a new me altogether, an identity and person in Christ that cannot be found at all in the old me. So every day when the old me wakes up strong…and she does… I must find the path back to Christ where the new me lives and that path is becoming more and more familiar, more and more worn, and –hopefully- is becoming my daily habit. }

This is a special path in that it can only be walked by faith, for the just shall live by faith. Walking it without faith will not take me to my new identity. In that case it becomes merely a checklist, a set of Christian “works” that have the appearance of godliness but deny the power thereof. That is not what I’m after.

To walk this path by faith, I must not rush through or hurry along, thinking I’m familiar enough with it to not need it again. I will never spiritually outgrow this. Each day I must savor. Sense. Believe afresh.

The path begins with being rooted and grounded in God’s love (Eph 3:17) for this is the key to being filled up to all the fullness of God (Eph 3:19). God’s love tells me that I can have Him anyway…even though I’m not good at this and I’m a sinner, a flop, a mess…I can have Him anyway. If the sun came up today, then I can count on His love because the sun is the sign of His covenant with us. It means that His mercies are new and His covenant still stands.

He is love and we are the loved.

The path then takes me to understanding the will of the Lord. He wants me to stand fully assured in all His will for me. Whatever difficult things are in my life today, I must stand fully assured in them, confident that His intentions are good towards me in these things, that his favor and blessing are upon me in them, though they be painful or hard. I must grasp that His provisions are grace and peace and I can stand fully assured.

Finally, the path takes me to the place of laying hold. He’s got a hold of me and won’t let go and it is my part to make every effort to lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of. Not to earn or to boast in self effort, but as a result of faith in all His bountiful goodness directed, daily and continually at me! WONDER!

From these 3 practices, I see 3 postures that can aid in beginning my day. I need all the help I can get and starting my day with routine, spiritual habits, helps keep me on the right track, helps keep me focused on the one thing.

3 Postures that Aid in Developing 3 Spiritual habits:

KNEEL– Kneeling symbolizes “Being rooted and grounded in God’s love.” Only the humble see their need for God’s love and present their dry roots to His soil for Life. Kneel before Love to humbly accept His love in spite of unworthiness, for love is not based on worth.

STAND– Stand fully assured. Speak aloud the confidence God desires me to have in my “today.” Pray aloud, “Lord, I stand fully assured of Your will for me in …. Today.” “I know the plans You have for me are good, for my wellbeing.” “I know I am not appointed for stumbling.” “Help me today to stand fully assured.”

REACH UP– Outstretched hands represent Laying Hold. This communicates my intentions to grasp ahold of all God’s grace and provisions that He has granted us (II Peter 1:3, II Cor 9:8) according to the power that works within. This is the humble declaration of desire not to fall short of the grace of God but to live and walk as beloved children, worthy of our calling, to keep our mind set on the things above where our life is hidden with Christ. It symbolizes diligence in exercising our spiritual senses.

“The root of all virtue and grace, of all faith and acceptable worship, is that we know that we have nothing but what we receive, and bow in deepest humility to wait upon God for it.” Andrew Murray

Click here for a printable bookmark to use all year long. Just print, cut to desired size, laminate, and grow all year: 3 Postures for 3 Habits

This post is linked to Ann’s Walk with Him Wednesday. Please check out the others who are posting on this topic. Also, join me here for an ongoing series this year in training our spiritual senses. You can subscribe to this blog by clicking here.

[…] This month, we are learning the Habits of Love: How to be Rooted and Grounded in Love; How to Walk in God’s Eulogy; How to Really Know God Loves You. Join us next Monday for a wrap up and special printable for your fridge. {You can also find a printable bookmark of the 3 Love Habits I’m taking with me this year at the bottom of this post.} […]